write a history of Richmond Municipality and in responding to that suggestion he has thought it would
make it more interesting and complete to preface it

by a short outline of development, of the settlement before its incorporation, and begin that preface with

a few remarks on the nature and formation of these islands.

The outline of these islands as they appear on the

map shows a close approach to the form of the Greek letter Delta. We are told that because most of the
islands formed by the matter carried down by rivers

and deposited at their mouths take the form of that letter, its name has been given to these formations.

Choosing
Name

Had not the settlers on the south side of the river

at the suggestion of W. H. Ladner, chosen that name in their petition for incorporation, which was in circulation for signature before the settlers on these
islands, it is likely that Delta and not Richmond would have been chosen by the latter.

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It may be well to state that these municipalities

were incorporated in the same year, 1879. It is very evident that the whole of Richmond and

the greater part of the Delta are of the same formation, viz., that they have been built up by the alluvial
matter carried down principally by the Fraser River, and the same process is still going on, adding area to

these lands.

Geological
Upheaval

When the great geological upheaval took place.

which threw up the mountain ranges on this border of the American Continent, it left Vancouver Island
separated from the mainland by the great trough of

the Gulf of Georgia and Puget Sound, with the Straits of Juan De Fuca to connect them with the Pacific

Ocean. In this trough was also thrown up the many islands therein, great and small, and among the latter

that which is now known as Point Roberts, which the alluvium carried down by the rivers connected with
the mainland and separated Boundary Bay from the original greater bay, which ran up to and beyond
where New Westminster now stands.

How much this bay was filled up by the great glacial
action, which followed the upheaval, before it released the rivers to begin their work, need not be speculated

upon, but that it still left a great deal of filling up to

be done is evidenced by the fact that testings made on the west end of Lulu Island, put down over a thousand
feet, brought up nothing but silty sand carried down by the river. And the sand found at that depth shows

little difference from that found just below the few feet of grey matter on the surface, of which the rich
soil of these areas consists.

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Soil
Formation

The shallowness of this layer of grey matter on the

top shows that until a certain height had been reached in the building up of this area-being about the level
of an average low tide-little but sand was deposited,

but when that level was reached, the sand being too heavy to be carried to a higher level, then began the
deposit of the clayish sediment which forms the top soil. It may be further pointed out that when these

areas reached a height that prevented an equal overflow of the water carrying the grey matter from
spreading equally over them, then began a difference

in the quantity and quality of the matter deposited

upon them, a difference that would be greater on large areas than on small ones.
For on the outer edges would be deposited the coarser and heavier particles, leaving the inner parts to be overflowed by the water,

partly relieved of its load, and carrying only the finest and lighter part of the sediment.

Work
of Beaver

On all such areas this process would continue until

the inner portions would become shallow lakes the greater part of the year - the existence of which

hastened and maintained by the work of beaver, whose

dams were built across the small sloughs and streams and these prevented the flow of the water to and
from those areas except at extreme high freshets and

tides. Thus the work of the beaver prevented a

greater amount of grey matter reaching the inner parts of these lands, and left them almost undisturbed
for the growth of the vegetation which has produced

the peat areas on these alluvial lands at the mouth of

the river.

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There is some evidence to show that these lands

were not built up on the outlines as they appear today, but by smaller areas having been built up and
afterwards joined together and added to later. Indeed,

this process is still going on and will go on as long

as the Fraser River continues in its present course.

Timber
Growth

On these Islands, before they were disturbed by the

white man, a considerable growth of timber along or near the water courses existed.
A crabapple growth along nearly all the gulf side of both islands was an outstanding feature, with a spruce tree here and there

to make its outline, at a distance, among which was one known as the Point Garry Tree and appreciated
by mariners entering the Fraser River, but which

became a victim to the remorseless work of the Fraser

many years ago. Near the north. end of this row on Sea Island a clump of spruce ended this margin of
growth along the gulf side of this island.

The south side of Lulu Island, from the gulf to
about half way between where No.2 and No.3 Roads now are, was ba:re of timber and then about a quarter

of a mile from the river was a mixed growth of spruce, cedar, hemlock, alder, some yew and on the outside
cottonwood, crabapple and elderberry. This extended eastward until it reached the big slough and its

branches until it ended where the peat bog comes out

to the river above No.6 Road - some places narrowing down to a scattering fringe, at others widening out
to large clumps and containing trees of considerable

size, of which spruce was the largest. And there is

still a sample of what this growth of timber was at its west and east ends of this slough.
East of the peat bog above mentioned, and near

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where No.8 Road comes to the river nearly opposite

Ewen's Cannery, this timber belt began again and extended with varying width from the river to the
upper end of the island.

On
North Side

On the north side of the island, with the exception

of a small patch of spruce near the river on the small slough about half way between the ends of No.1 and
No.2 Roads, a remnant of which is still standing, there was no timber for over three miles, up to near where

the Eburne bridge comes on to Lulu Island. This growth was just enough to give a good fringe to the
river bank up to the slough which comes out to the

river above the end of No.5 Road near the end of the

bridge on that line ofroad.
Above that it widened out to cover a considerable area, but is now fast disappearing.

Other
Growth

East of this large clump only a few scattered trees

marked the edge of the island to its east end. With the exception of the timber growths mentioned and
the peat bogs /which cover nearly one third of the

island, the rest of Lulu Island was covered with grass

of different kinds and hardeck, with here and there

some willow scattered in small patches. There were also some patches of reeds and cat-tail flags in places
not so well drained as others. The growth on the peat

bogs were then much the same as they are now - bull pine, blueberry vines, Hudson Bay tea and wild
cranberries.

Sea
Island Conditions

The condition of Sea Island was much the same

as that on Lulu Island. There was a large patch of

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spruce timber on the south side which began about

half a mile from the upper end of the island and extended westward with considerable width for more
than half a mile. There was also a small patch on

the north side of the island not far from the upper end, of which nothing now remains.
On this island, too, there was some peaty formation, but not sufficient depth to have a similar growth
as that on Lulu Island.

Wild
Roses Grew

Along the water courses, where the timber grew,

especially where the crabapple and willow bushes stood close to the edge, wild roses grew in great profusion
and to a great height, garlanding the bushes and festooning the trees, whose beauty in June was indescribable.

On the small islands, only Mitchell's Island was thickly covered with small spruce and cedar and on
Twigg's Island, known first as Mason's Island, and

now as Bell's Island, there were some spruce trees

and considerable crabapple.

Good
Grass Patches

On the large islands there were patches of good

grass, blue joint and red top, which the early settlers found very useful for hay, which could be cut and
cured, after the freshets in the river were over, in

late July and August.
These grasses furnished food for cattle all the year round. Such was the condition
of these islands before the white men began their work of reclamation.

But long before that, they were for many centuries good hunting ground for the Indians as they

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were an ideal home for such fur-bearing animals as

the beaver, musk rat and mink.

Beaver
Dams

On the small sloughs, the beaver found an
admirable place to build their dams and along their edges grew willow in great abundance, the bark of
which seems to be a choice food for these animals.

The writer saw proof, too, that they could cut down
trees of considerable size, for he saw an alder tree of more than thirty inches in diameter cut down by

them, thrown across a slough, and if one had not

known of their presence, one would have thought it had been cut down with something like a large gouge
in the hands of an inexperienced woodman, as the

cerf was cut all round and sloped both up and down.

On these islands, deer were plentiful and some bear,
the first breeding thereon, but the latter swimming across thereto in the early summer for blueberries

and other fruit, generally returning to the mainland for the winter. About
twenty-five years ago, a bear

was killed in the timber near No.6 Road on the south side of Lulu Island.

Indian
Middens

One can imagine the building up of these islands

being watched by the Indians, for generation after generation, from their middens on the ridge which

is now part of the townsite of Marpole - a midden

which, they too, were building up and which took them some thousands of years to accumulate; and,
judging from the growth of timber which the white

man found growing on it, must have been abandoned

by them for over a thousand years. It is likely this

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midden was not abandoned until the flat land lying

between the present stream and the bottom of the bluff, on which the midden was built, had reached a
height that prevented them from getting their loaded

canoes, carrying clams and other food up to the foot
of the bluff.

It may be observed that there were some middens

built on the banks of the North Arm River and on the sloughs of Lulu Island of considerable size and

of the same material as that of the larger one previously referred to, and probably built after it was abandoned.

These small middens would be built during the periods of low tide, in the early spring and fall.

Her
Name was Lulu

It is generally believed that the name Lulu was

given to the largest island by Colonel Moody, who did so in honor of a young actress who visited New
Westminster in the early days, no doubt adding to

'the gaiety of that part of the British Nation.' The writer has no record of how Sea Island got its name.